Moses Itauma’s Wins And The Arithmetic Behind Them

Itauma says he beats fighters and then hears the same response every time. They were washed. They were finished. They were not the same. He says he will never get credit. He said it again recently in an interview with iFL TV, framing the reaction as something unfair that keeps happening to him.

The problem is not perception. The problem is arithmetic.

Look at the run. Dillian Whyte at 37. Mike Balogun at 41. Mariusz Wach at 44. Dan Garber at 38. Even the younger names are not peers. They are exits. This is not a list that confuses anyone. It is a list that explains the reaction perfectly.

Fans are not being cruel. They are being literal. If any heavyweight prospect flattened that collection of opponents, the language would be the same. This is not an Itauma tax. It is how boxing works when the competition is visibly on the way out.

When Itauma complains, he does himself no favors. It comes off less like confidence and more like grievance. Fans do not want sympathy from a heavyweight being sold as inevitable. They want acknowledgment. Say these are learning fights. Say they are steps. Say the division is thin. and this is how careers are built. What they do not want is surprise that context exists.

The Whyte example is the clearest one. Whyte had been slowing for years. He had been stopped by Tyson Fury. He had been knocked out by Alexander Povetkin. He labored against Ebenezer Tetteh in 2024. None of that was hidden. Itauma knocking him out quickly did not reset the clock.

Itauma wants credit without consequence. He wants the upside of beating names without the responsibility of what those names actually represent at that stage. Boxing does not work that way.

If he wants a different reaction, the solution is boring and unavoidable. Fight someone closer to his own future. Until then, the noise is not disrespect. It is accuracy.

Itauma faces veteran Jermaine Franklin next on January 24, 2026, at the Co Op Live Arena in Manchester, England. The event will be broadcast live on DAZN.